Résumé

When withdrawing or depositing cryptocurrencies into your Binance account, be careful about the network you choose. It's easy to confuse Binance Smart Chain (BEP-20) with Ethereum (ERC-20) and send your tokens to the wrong blockchain.

If the crypto wallet you deposited funds into supports BEP-20 and ERC-20 tokens, you can send your cryptocurrency back to Binance in a few simple steps.

If your wallet only supports the ERC-20 or BEP-20 blockchain, you will need to import your wallet's private key into a new wallet that supports both blockchains.

Depositing funds with the wrong blockchain into your Binance account, another cryptocurrency exchange, or wallet from a third-party service, however, is more difficult to resolve. In this case, contact your wallet support team to see if they can help you.

Introduction

If you have made withdrawals from Binance, you have probably noticed that certain currencies have different transfer networks available. Even seasoned HODLers are sometimes confused about choosing the right blockchain for their transactions. Which one to choose to send your cryptocurrency to another wallet?

To put it simply, you must choose the same network as that used by the receiving wallet. Technically, it depends on the standard of the token you are using, such as ERC-20, BEP-20 or BEP-2.

If you sent your cryptocurrency to the wrong blockchain, it is essential to determine the type of recipient wallet. If you can access your private key or seed, this means you have a non-custodial wallet. If this is not the case, your wallet is custodial (guarded). With this information, you can then try our three possible solutions.

I sent funds to the wrong network. What to do ?

First of all, don't panic. If you sent ERC-20 tokens (like ETH) to the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) or sent BEP-20 tokens to the Ethereum network, you should be able to get them back. There are three different situations, each with its own solution:

1. You have sent the tokens to a wallet supporting BSC and the Ethereum network.

You can send the tokens back to the correct network on Binance.

2. You have sent the tokens to a wallet supporting either BSC or the Ethereum network.

You will need to access your private key to import it into a wallet that supports both.

3. You have sent the tokens to a custodial wallet or to a cryptocurrency exchange.

Ask your wallet provider or exchange customer support for help. You may not be able to recover your funds.

Before working on a solution, it is important to understand what happened to avoid repeating this problem in the future.

What is the difference between BEP-20 and ERC-20?

ERC-20 and BEP-20 are token standards that describe specific rules and technical guidelines for these tokens. They govern how transactions, deposits and withdrawals are made. The ERC-20 and BEP-20 standardize how a token interacts with different wallets, projects and smart contracts.

The two standards share many similarities in their operation, ERC-20 is however exclusive to Ethereum, and BEP-20 is exclusive to the Binance Smart Chain. Simply put, these are standards of tokens that each belong to a different blockchain.

If your cryptocurrency is on the wrong network, you may not be able to use it as intended. For example, Ethereum sent to the BSC cannot be used in Ethereum DApps and smart contracts.

What happens if I send a BEP-20/ERC-20 token to the wrong blockchain?

If you send an ERC-20 token to BSC or a BEP-20 token to Ethereum, the token will land in the same wallet address on your chosen network. Your BSC and Ethereum wallet addresses are identical and accessible using the same private key.

For example, if you send ETH to BSC, you will get a BEP-20 token pegged to the price of Ether at your wallet address on BSC. You can use BscScan.com to verify this with your transaction number or Etherscan.io if you sent BEP-20 tokens on the Ethereum network.

Here is an example (from BscScan) of someone who withdrew their ERC-20 ETH and chose the BSC (BEP-20) transfer network in their Binance wallet. These tokens now appear on the BSC as Ethereum attached to Binance under the same wallet address.

Fortunately, your cryptocurrency will not have disappeared. Now you just need to send it back to the correct blockchain. Check out our solutions below that match your situation.

Recovery from a wallet supporting BSC and Ethereum networks

You should have no problem finding your tokens in a wallet that supports both blockchains. Check the list of tokens to activate for each network if you can't see them already.

MetaMask, for example, has an [Add Token] button that allows you to view the list of available tokens.

If you do not see the token in the list, you will need to enter the token contract in your wallet. You can see this process in step 5 of the section Recovering funds from a wallet that only supports the BSC or Ethereum network.

If you want to return your tokens to their original blockchain, you have two options: use Binance Bridge or the manual method.

Using the Binance Bridge

Binance Bridge is a simple tool that allows you to convert your assets between blockchains. Simply connect MetaMask or Binance Chain Wallet and choose what you want to transfer. Remember that you will need BNB to pay BSC network gas fees or ETH to pay Ethereum gas fees.

Follow our Introduction to Binance Bridge to learn more about the process.

Manual conversion

To manually convert your tokens, you must send your cryptocurrency back to Binance. The custodial network in your Binance spot wallet must match the blockchain your tokens are currently on. Once arrived, you can properly send them back to your external wallet.

In this example, we will convert ETH attached to Binance (BEP-20) back to ETH from the ERC-20 network. Make sure the wallet you are sending funds from has BNB to pay gas fees.

1. On your Binance cryptocurrency withdrawal page, select ETH and the BEP-20 Deposit Network (BSC). If you deposit on the wrong network, Binance will not be able to recover your funds.

2. Once your ETH arrives in your Binance account, convert it to ERC-20 by withdrawing it to an Ethereum compatible wallet and selecting Ethereum (ETH) ERC20 as the transfer network.

Your funds will now be safe and routed to your external wallet using the correct blockchain.

Recovery from a wallet that only supports the BSC or Ethereum network

To recover your tokens in this situation, you will need to import your wallet's private key into a new wallet that supports both blockchains. Depending on the receiving wallet, you can also use your mnemonic phrase instead of your private key.

Importing a private key

When you import a wallet's private key into another wallet, you have access to the funds associated with that private key, even when using another wallet.

In other words, importing a wallet's private key will not send the funds to your importing wallet. This will simply make the external wallet accessible from another application. Please note that custodial wallets generally do not have this option, as they do not provide you with a private key.

Some of the most commonly used wallets include Metamask, Trust Wallet, Math Wallet, SafePal, and TokenPocket.

In this example, we will use the MetaMask extension for Google Chrome and recover ETH accidentally sent to the BSC.

Recovery of your funds

1. Go to your MetaMask wallet or create one if you don't currently have one. MetaMask is also available as an iOS and Android app.

2. If you create a new account, you will have the option to import the mnemonic phrase from your old wallet.

3. If you already have an account, simply click on the MetaMask extension icon and then click on your profile at the top right.

4. Click [Import Account], then enter the private key of your wallet with the missing cryptocurrency. Click the [Import] button to finish. You can also upload a JSON file if you have one.

5. Next, you will need to manually add the BSC network to your Metamask extension. Click the MetaMask icon, then click the network drop-down menu at the top middle. Click [Custom RPC] at the bottom of the list.

6. You will need to fill in some information to allow MetaMask to access Binance Smart Chain. These details include a remote procedure call (RPC) URL. This URL allows MetaMask to obtain information from the BSC blockchain and make transaction requests.

Fill in the following information in their respective fields and click on the [Save] option located at the bottom.

Network name: BSC mainnet

New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed1.binance.org/

ChainID : 56

Symbole : BNB

Blockchain Explorer: https://bscscan.com/

7. Now add the token contract to your MetaMask wallet. This step will allow the selected BEP-20 wallet to search for the lost token. You can find a list of tokens and token contracts on BscScan. For ERC-20 ETH sent to the BSC blockchain, click on the Ethereum token attached to Binance (ETH) to find the corresponding token contract.

8. Copy the token contract for the next step and take note of the Decimals field.

9. Select [Mainnet BSC] from the Network drop-down list, click [Add Token], then click [Custom Token].

10. Enter the token contract address, token mnemonic, and denomination decimal places. For our example with ETH, these are as follows:

Contact address: 0x2170ed0880ac9a755fd29b2688956bd959f933f8

Token symbol: ETH

Decimal places: 18

Click [Add token] to confirm.

11. You should now see your lost ETH tokens in your wallet balance. From there, you have the option to send them back to the BEP-20 wallet address in your Binance account. You can also use Binance Bridge with MetaMask to convert your token to ERC-20 if you wish.

See the section Retrieving from a Wallet Supporting BSC and Ethereum Blockchains for more information on transferring your tokens between blockchains.

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Recovery from a custodial wallet or exchange

If you are trying to transfer your funds to a custodial wallet without BEP-20 support, such as another cryptocurrency exchange, you will need to contact the wallet owner.

Some custodial wallet providers can help you for a fee or allow you to access your private keys. You can then import the private key into a BSC compatible wallet. Most, including exchanges, will unfortunately not be able to provide you with your key.

If you deposit tokens into your Binance account by selecting the wrong blockchain, Binance cannot help you recover your cryptocurrency.

Conclusion

Choosing the right transfer network is one of the trickiest parts of withdrawing your crypto from Binance. But once you get the hang of it, you won't be sending your BTC or ETH to the wrong network anytime soon. In most cases, with a standard wallet, your funds are SAFU and recoverable with a little effort.